We are honored to be a Gold Sponsor and Advisory Group member of Women Deliver 2013. Over 30 staff members representing 10 countries will participate in the conference by speaking, moderating, leading, and learning together with the 5,000 attendees in Kuala Lumpur.

For over 40 years, MSH has worked shoulder-to-shoulder in partnership with over 150 countries---currently in over 65---saving lives and improving the health of women, girls, men, and boys. Our programs empower women; sensitize men; and integrate maternal, newborn, and child health, family planning and reproductive health, and HIV & AIDS services to improve access to quality care and, ultimately, save lives.

The field of global health is changing, with interest in a new era of multi-stakeholder involvement, chronic non-communicable diseases, health system strengthening, and universal health coverage.

The 66th World Health Assembly, the primary decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), will consider these critical topics for addressing the health-related post-2015 development goals at its upcoming meeting in Geneva (May 20 to 28).

Join us --- the Global Health Council, Anheuser-Busch InBev, the Center for Global Health and Diplomacy, and Management Sciences for Health (MSH) --- in person or virtually, for a panel discussion on May 21 on how the global health community is responding to shifting health priorities, and what’s working—and what’s not—in the way we approach health delivery.

With less than 1000 days until the Millennium Development Goals expire, the process for setting post-2015 goals continues to ramp up. We take this opportunity to reflect on the current state of community health systems in low- and middle-income countries and consider how the post-2015 agenda could reshape them—perhaps dramatically.

Community health systems today

Integration moves ahead

Poor and rural communities in low- and middle-income countries are leaving behind the “one clinic, one service” approach. So-called vertical programs, which organized resources according to single health conditions, created a patchwork of health services at the community level. You could get HIV care from one provider, but would have to go down the hall, down the street, or often much farther to get maternal health care or malaria care.

Stop TB in my lifetime.

This global call to action---the Stop TB Partnership's theme for March 24, World TB Day 2013---is as relevant now as it was over a hundred years ago.

Progress toward reducing the global burden of tuberculosis (TB) has been impressive in recent years: TB mortality has fallen by 41 percent since 1990.

Yet, TB remains one of the world’s leading causes of death, killing more than 1.4 million people per year, including 70,000 children. In 2011, 600,000 people died of TB in Africa alone---including many people with HIV.

Low detection rates, new strains of multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB), high prevalence of HIV/TB co-infection, and risk of TB among diabetes patients---nearly 10 percent of TB cases are linked to diabetes, add to the challenge of TB control, especially among the poor and most vulnerable.

"Investing in Asia" (PDF), a new supplement published by MediaPlanet as part of its "Investing in Development" series, hit newsstands in select markets of USA Today on Friday, December 21, transporting readers to the Asian continent.

MSH President and CEO Dr. Jonathan D. Quick was interviewed in the "Panel of Experts" section. Asked by MediaPlanet "Why is now the time to invest our time, energy, and abilities into the Asian continent?," Dr. Quick said:

MSH is driven by the ancient Chinese Tao of Leadership, working shoulder-to-shoulder with our local colleagues for their success. China and India, two of Asia’s most populated countries, are moving toward universal health coverage. Malaysia reduced maternal deaths. Afghanistan’s thousands of community health workers have increased access to family planning. Asia’s populations are hit hard by chronic diseases, including cancer, lung and heart disease, and diabetes. Now is the time to make even greater impact.

We have seen some remarkable gains in global health in 2012. Yet millions of women, children, and men still die from preventable causes. As we pause and reflect on 2012 and look ahead to the new year, I invite you to read and share some of our favorite blog posts from the year.

MSH & The Tao of Leadership

Partnership and Empowerment: We take our inspiration from the 3,500 year old Tao (Way) of Leadership, working shoulder to shoulder with our local colleagues and partners toward their empowerment and success.